BLOOD YOUTH // THINK TANK?, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
With the release of their second album ‘Starve’ Blood Youth embark on their UK/EU tour!
BLOOD YOUTH PERFORMING AT NEWCASTLE’S THINK TANK? - 04-03-19
PICTURE BY: WILL GORMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
★★★★☆
Newcastle’s metal scene came out in force on a cold Monday evening ready for a night full of cracking guitar riffs and intense vocals. But before the main carnage started there was two great support acts.
First up was Lotus Eater, who warmed up the crowd immediately. After just one song vocalist Jamie McLees told the crowd ‘It’s time to wake the f**K up! Do you hear me? Wake the fuck up!’ this caused arms to start swirling and the crowd become fully involved. With being in one of Newcastle’s intimate venues it was great seeing fans screaming the lyrics straight back to the group while being inches apart. For the first supporting band I was impressed with the crowd’s engagement; Lotus Eater clearly have dedicated fans. With pure aggression it’s no wonder why their fanbase is constantly growing and I can expect them to be back headlining very soon!
Up next was Palm Reader who were just as intense as Lotus Eater however the group have incorporated more clean vocals giving them a more metalcore sound, I have no complaints as they sounded terrific! After their first track vocalist Josh Mckeown told the crowd to ‘move forward, don’t be afraid of these idiots at the front.’ The idiots at the front was a sarcastic remark to the members of the crowd moshing, those moshing laughed at the joke. With the crowd now closer to the stage the energy was ramped up by the group, with the group moving all over the stage and the crowd chanting the lyrics. Overall their set sounded great and they sounded well-rehearsed.
With the crew setting up the stage for Blood Youth, I couldn’t help notice that The Prodigy’s recently released album ‘No Tourists’ was playing in the background which was perhaps a tribute to Keith Flint who was an inspiration to many and tragically passed away on the same day.
BLOOD YOUTH PERFORMING AT NEWCASTLE’S THINK TANK? - 04-03-19
PICTURE BY: WILL GORMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
The stage lights dimmed and the venue was in complete darkness, the intro began playing, the lights strobed and one by one the members of Blood Youth entered the stage. Once all on stage they wasted no time in starting chaos and they began playing ‘Spineless.’ After a brief breather the group continued with ‘Cut Me Open.’ This caused a frenzy in the crowd with a swirling mosh pit beginning. So far, I can say that the expectations that I had have been blown away, I honestly thought I was going to be underwhelmed however I couldn’t believe the amount of energy they had and their raw talent. Blood Youth is not for the faint hearted but they certainly put on a belter of a show.
